What is the meaning of life on Earth?

kelly1

joe_chicken wrote:

So what is our purpose according to God?

Our purpose according to God is to do His will and to enjoy eternal life with Him.

joe_chicken wrote:

I'll ask again, do you get purpose and meaning from religion?

Absolutely! I believe that when I die, I will go to Heaven, assuming I've lived a good life according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This gives me hope knowing that I'll continue to exist after my physical body dies. I live in the hope that life in Heaven will be beautiful and joyous beyond words. I truly believe this will all my heart and soul and I don't believe this is a fairy-tale!

I also have a good reason for not being selfish and giving myself in service to God and neighbour. I want to do God's will and not my own because I believe this is what makes us happy in this life and the life to come.

Material things will never make me happy because it's a hunger that can never be fed and feeding it only makes the hunger grow.

Zillah

kelly1 wrote:

Our purpose according to God is to do His will and to enjoy eternal life with Him.

So there is no meaning to this life? Cos, its all just a build up to the real existence later, right?

Can't an infinitely powerful being do his own work? Why does he need us goo-ants to do things for him? Why did he make the universe so big if we're the special ones? This just isn't making much sense here Kelly.

Dades

Scofflaw wrote:

Hmm. Not sure that it's quite as cut and dried as that. We can assign ourselves our own purpose, and our own meaning, so I would say:

"to have an externally validated meaning, we require an external source of validation. Nothing natural provides such a source, so we require that such a source must be outside the natural world."

and further:

"for the external source to be a source of meaning, it must be either validated by some other external source, or self-validating".

Better again.

I took for granted we were talking about an "externally validated meaning" as I reckon that's what the OP was getting at. I don't doubt that all our lives have much meaning to us individually.

radiospan

kelly1 wrote:

Our purpose according to God is to do His will and to enjoy eternal life with Him.

I take the view that this is the one and only life we have. It seems an awful shame to waste it worrying about the next.

kelly1 wrote:

I also have a good reason for not being selfish and giving myself in service to God and neighbour. I want to do God's will and not my own because I believe this is what makes us happy in this life and the life to come.

It's what makes you happy, and that's good. Surely there must be more that makes you happy though?

kelly1

death1234567 wrote:

However it is more foolish to try an answer these questions by proposing a "God" as this just leads to the question "where did God come from" and you end up in a recursive cycle of timewasting and idiocy.

I think it's misconception that God was invented by man. God has revealed Himself to several prophets (e.g. Moses) from the time man was ready to understand God. There are of course many false prophets and these are the flies that spoil the ointment, making religion look stupid.

stevejazzx

kelly1 wrote:

Our purpose according to God is to do His will and to enjoy eternal life with Him.

so god created us to worship him...a celestial north korea then.

kelly wrote:

....... assuming I've lived a good life according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Except jesus didn't write the bible...Lots of different people did.

kelly wrote:

I also have a good reason for not being selfish and giving myself.....

So the only reason you're good is becasue you're fearful of God will do to you?

joe_chicken

kelly1 wrote:

Absolutely! I believe that when I die, I will go to Heaven, assuming I've lived a good life according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This gives me hope knowing that I'll continue to exist after my physical body dies. I live in the hope that life in Heaven will be beautiful and joyous beyond words. I truly believe this will all my heart and soul and I don't believe this is a fairy-tale!

That's admirable.

With the upmost of sincerity, I hope you stick with your belief.

The Mad Hatter

K, just glancing through this thread, haven't really read it.

kelly1 wrote:

Consider that a generation after you die you will mostly be forgotten.

I certainly intend for this not to be the case.

joe_chicken wrote:

Does religion give you meaning? Do you wake up everyday thinking "There's no meaning to life... no... wait... God exists... therefore I can get out of bed?"

No, you think "What'll I have for breakfast"

Wait, wait, wait...

It's possible to think just after you've woken up?!

DaveMcG wrote:

Consider that a generation after you die you will mostly be forgotten.

Unless you write a kick-ass song like Beethoven's 3rd Symphony!

Er...Beethoven's third symphony is a symphony, not a song...(yes, I'm being pedantic, but songs have words.)

Still, I agree with this:

DaveMcG wrote:

What gives life a purpose?

Happiness, altruism, friendship, family, pleasure, enjoyment......... all that good sh*t!

Can't see any greater reason to live than that, and I don't need one.

Galvasean

So basically someone wandered into a message board and asked for the meaning of life...

GOOD LUCK TO YOU

Beruthiel

kelly1 wrote:

Absolutely! I believe that when I die I will go to Heaven

You have absolutely no proof whatsoever that's what will happen.

This gives me hope knowing that I'll continue to exist after my physical body dies. I live in the hope that life in Heaven will be beautiful and joyous beyond words. I truly believe this will all my heart and soul and I don't believe this is a fairy-tale!

A fairy tale is exactly what I believe that to be.

You still haven't answered any of my question btw.

kelly1

Beruthiel wrote:

Who says there has to be a purpose or meaning?

The meaning of life is a fundamental question and one that deserves to be thoroughly investigated. I think Atheism can be used as cop-out to be frank.
Surely finding our true purpose in life is something very exciting and meaningful.

Beruthiel wrote:

What do you suggest the alternative to be?

One can always take the view that live's not worth living (due to hardship etc) and end it all. It's an easy option if you don't believe in life after death.

kelly1

Beruthiel wrote:

You still haven't answered any of my question btw.

Give me a chance will you? I'm responding to several posters!

Zillah

kelly1 wrote:

Give me a chance will you? I'm responding to several posters!

Ok, what you need to do is, make one big post that addresses everyone, rather than just one person at a time.

Get some internet skills.

Beruthiel

kelly1 wrote:

The meaning of life is a fundamental question and one that deserves to be thoroughly investigated. I think Atheism can be used as cop-out to be frank.

I think that believing in something that humans made up in the first place in order to make themselves feel better is a cop out.

Surely finding our true purpose in life is something very exciting and meaningful.

Again, why are you so sure there is a 'true purpose'? Why has there to be one?

One can always take the view that live's not worth living (due to hardship etc) and end it all. It's an easy option if you don't believe in life after death.

Really? I don't see it as an easy option at all, how exactly do you come to that conclusion?

Fallen Seraph

kelly1 wrote:

I'm just curious, according to atheists and agnostics, what is the purpose and meaning of our lives on Earth?

Consider that a generation after you die you will mostly be forgotten.

Why live life? What gives life a purpose?

When people ask me what the meaning of life is, I ask them what the meaning of blue is.

Why must life have a meaning? Even, why should life have a meaning?

Galvasean

Beruthiel wrote:

Really? I don't see it as an easy option at all, how exactly do you come to that conclusion?

On one hand ending it all means no more suffering. On the other hand it also means no room for pleasure.

Zombrex

kelly1 wrote:

Our purpose according to God is to do His will and to enjoy eternal life with Him.

Why would God set this up like this. It seems ridiculous. You are basically saying that his life is just a complete waste of time. And yet you seem to be giving out that atheists have no meaning in this life :rolleyes:

MoominPapa

Fallen Seraph wrote:

what the meaning of blue is

Sad or cold

Anyway I'm with the keyboard player from Spinal Tap "Have a good time all the time" or if not all the time then most of the time or at least some of the time anyway like once in a while

Fallen Seraph

MoominPapa wrote:

Sad or cold

So every time I see the sky I should think "Oh that physical manifestation of the colour blue must either be cold or sad"? Connotations =/= meaning



Also, discussing the meaning of blue is a very unusual way to go off topic. Even for around here...

MooseJam

There is no meaning to life which is fantastic, it's very funny really, me this fabulously complicated and intelligent being and there is zero point to it, it's like asking what is the meaning of water flowing downhill, there is none it just does it.

MoominPapa

Fallen Seraph wrote:

So every time I see the sky I should think "Oh that physical manifestation of the colour blue must either be cold or sad"? Connotations =/= meaning

Jeeze, lighten up, however next time you are at 90,000 feet I think you'll find its pretty freekin cold

Attractive Nun

MooseJam wrote:

There is no meaning to life which is fantastic, it's very funny really, me this fabulously complicated and intelligent being and there is zero point to it, it's like asking what is the meaning of water flowing downhill, there is none it just does it.

I actually think this is the most succinct summation of my opinion on this topic I've seen on this thread.

Why does water flow downhill? Because of gravity due to general relativity and the molecular composition of water and all sorts of other sciencey gobbledygook I don't really understand. What is the cosmological meaning of water flowing downhill? What a stupid question, there is no meaning - it just does it.

Why is grass green? Because it contains chlorophyll which absorbs all the colours in the spectrum except green, or some such explanation. What is the cosmological meaning of grass being green? What a ridiculous question, it just is green.

Why is human life? Because millions of years ago on this planet the conditions because suitable for the existence of simple, single-celled organisms which eventually because multi-celled organisms and over millions of years evolved and diversified into millions of different species of which humans are one, or something. What is the cosmological meaning of human life? What an ingeniously profound question! We are surely the creation of an all-powerful, all-knowing being and put on this earth to obey his immortal laws and worship him so that we may go, after death, into a new world of eternal bliss!


I really do feel there's a lot of humour in the fact(ish) that our existence is ultimately pointless and we are merely the product of innumerable processes taking place over millions of years that none of us can ever hope to fully understand, yet we have created for ourselves layers of meaning and importance of which I'm sure, in mere hundreds of years, will be looked back upon with ridicule by our our descendents.

Scofflaw

joe_chicken wrote:

Subtle, yet o so incredibly geeky.

I plead moral incapacity - puns are a weakness of mine.

cordially,
Scofflaw

lookinforpicnic

DaveMcG wrote:

Happiness, altruism, friendship, family, pleasure, enjoyment......... all that good sh*t!

There is loads of purpose and meaning for you OP.

Of course there is no meaning (singular) to life, it is a misguided question, which emerges due to (as wicknights points out) the ability to attribute agency and intention to other people, objects, events and of course our own life’s. This attribution of agency and intention very likely evolved for predicting the behaviour of individuals within our social groups (just in case your thinking “well did that behaviour just appear also?”).

I think though you have to be careful when saying that there is no meaning to life, even though there isn’t of course in the sense that there is one big intention behind us and with the right spiritual resolve you get enlightened or some other crap and discover this meaning. But there are lots of meanings to life, there are lots of things in life where each individual can gain meaning and purpose. To say there is no meaning is only correct if you think that the only type of meaning in the world has to be of a spiritual kind, I like the word meaning and don’t want to throw it away because religious people use it in stupid ways.

It reminds me of an example by Daniel Dennett where he talks about a fictional race of primitive folk that believe that love is something that happens to you after you get shot by cupids arrow, when we encounter this race of course we will tell them that there is no such thing as cupid and there response will be “what love doesn’t exist” and resist the statement as they know for sure (giving there own feelings) that love is real. Then we have to sit them down and say love is real it is just not what you thought it was.

Religious folk seem to think that our morality and meaning aren’t ‘real’, that they are derived somehow, they are mistaken, derived is the only kind.

Zillah

Attractive Nun wrote:

Why is human life? Because millions of years ago on this planet the conditions because suitable for the existence of simple, single-celled organisms which eventually because multi-celled organisms and over millions of years evolved and diversified into millions of different species of which humans are one, or something. What is the cosmological meaning of human life? What an ingeniously profound question! We are surely the creation of an all-powerful, all-knowing being and put on this earth to obey his immortal laws and worship him so that we may go, after death, into a new world of eternal bliss!

lol

bonkey

Kelly1...

you say that you believe in God. Your existence is given meaning by the existence of God, as God created you for a purpose.

You have difficulty understanding the atheist position which lacks this given purpose.

Thats your belief, and you're entitled to it....but consider the following from the perspective of your belief...

What is God's purpose? What is God's meaning in life? Why does God exist?

If there is no higher being than God, then God can have no given purpose, no given meaning.

Does this make God's existence empty and meaningless?

If not, then why would a lack of a given purpose or a given meaning have that effect on anything else, were God to not exist?

If God can give God's existence purpose and meaning, and that is sufficient for God...why would it not be sufficient for an atheist?

Dave!

kelly1 wrote:

Can you be certain of this? Can't you allow for the possibility that there is a purpose and meaning to our existence?

No I can't be certain of it, but there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that there is a meaning, so I live my life as if the only meaning it has is the one I give it.

Makes sense to me. Apparantly not to you.

bonkey wrote:

Kelly1...

you say that you believe in God. Your existence is given meaning by the existence of God, as God created you for a purpose.

You have difficulty understanding the atheist position which lacks this given purpose.

Thats your belief, and you're entitled to it....but consider the following from the perspective of your belief...

What is God's purpose? What is God's meaning in life? Why does God exist?

If there is no higher being than God, then God can have no given purpose, no given meaning.

Does this make God's existence empty and meaningless?

If not, then why would a lack of a given purpose or a given meaning have that effect on anything else, were God to not exist?

If God can give God's existence purpose and meaning, and that is sufficient for God...why would it not be sufficient for an atheist?

I'd also like a theist to address this problem.

Tim Robbins

kelly1 wrote:

The meaning of life is a fundamental question and one that deserves to be thoroughly investigated. I think Atheism can be used as cop-out to be frank.
Surely finding our true purpose in life is something very exciting and meaningful.

Question:
If God provides the meaning to our life, what provides the meaning to God's life?
Answer:
Either God has intrinsic meaning or like us, He has no meaning.
Corollary:
This means that it is possible for our lives to have intrinsic meaning or no meaning at all, even if you believe in God.

The theological "meaning" argument is simple to rebutt. It doesn't even require negating the existence of God or postulating the non-existence of God.

kelly1

bonkey wrote:

Kelly1...
What is God's purpose? What is God's meaning in life? Why does God exist?

If there is no higher being than God, then God can have no given purpose, no given meaning.

Does this make God's existence empty and meaningless?

If not, then why would a lack of a given purpose or a given meaning have that effect on anything else, were God to not exist?

If God can give God's existence purpose and meaning, and that is sufficient for God...why would it not be sufficient for an atheist?

You've got me there. I don't know what God's own purpose is really. I believe He is perfectly happy in Himself and doesn't need us for His own happiness or to give His own existence meaning. He is perfect in every way and lacks nothing. So I supposed His own perfection and omnipotence is His meaning.

It's a big question, too big for my tiny mind

Zombrex

kelly1 wrote:

You've got me there. I don't know what God's own purpose is really. I believe He is perfectly happy in Himself and doesn't need us for His own happiness or to give His own existence meaning. He is perfect in every way and lacks nothing. So I supposed His own perfection and omnipotence is His meaning.

It's a big question, too big for my tiny mind

You didn't really answer the question

God does not have his purpose assigned to him, he figures it out himself.

If God can exist and decide for himself what his purpose is, without this existence being therefore meaningless, why can't we?